Monday, May 6, 2024

HappeningPH Music Exclusive! Chelsea Dawn, Coloura Collaborate with Indonesian Act lightcraft on “Coming Home”

HappeningPH Music Exclusive! Chelsea Dawn, Coloura Collaborate with Indonesian Act lightcraft on “Coming Home”

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From Left to Right: Cover art for “Coming Home” by Kartika Paramita; clockwise from upper left – Chelsea Dawn, Jake Relacion of Coloura, lightcraft. 

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian pop rock act lightcraft has just dropped their latest single Coming Home on April 25, 2024, and the brand new track features a global collaboration with Dumaguete, Philippines hometown hero Chelsea Dawn and rising pop rock stars of Cebu, Philippines, Coloura. Coming Home is now available globally on all major streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and more. 

The collaboration between lightcraft, Chelsea Dawn, and Coloura saw its beginnings when Melt Records cofounder Dexter Sy got acquainted with lightcraft’s Imam Surataruna at the 2022 ASEAN Music Showcase Festival in Singapore. They later connected to talk about lightcraft’s plans of touring the Philippines, and a lightbulb lit up for the collaboration to happen. 

Coming Home was originally written by Surataruna but, at the point when the collaboration took shape, was yet in an early draft state. Chelsea Dawn Bureros contributed her powerful and distinct vocal chops to the track, singing the opening verse and adding lovely textures to the song’s hooks. Jake Relacion of Coloura, on the other hand, added his unique production style, infusing signature synths and samples and elevating the arrangement to its final form. 

The song builds around the idea of “home” and what it truly means. Being Indonesian but having formed in Malaysia where the members attended university together, the band had a hard time acclimating to the idea of a “home base”, even as they returned to Jakarta and continued to perform as a band. “It feels strange. We’ve been here [in Jakarta] for a while but never gained a foothold here or anywhere else. We’re still seen as outsiders,” describes Surataruna. 

The experience of the pandemic, ironically, provided a moment of clarity. “Being at home with loved ones with nowhere to go for days, I realised that home is simply wherever you are comfortable,” he reflects. “It’s not about where or how the place is; it’s about what you feel and what gives you purpose in life.”

Despite the physical distance, the collaboration between the song’s performers went as seamlessly as it could get. “They’re very easy to talk to,” Bureros said of the experience. “They were clear about what they want and they pretty much let us be our authentic selves.” Relacion echoed the same sentiments. “I loved the overall process of making the song,” he said. “The people involved in the process had a lot of ideas to share to make the song as intricate as it is.” 

Behind the scenes, the staffing was just as diverse, with the evocative cover art for the track designed by Indonesian illustrator Kartika Paramita and the Philippines’ Miguel Lim adding a final gloss on the audio master. In addition to the streaming release, a lyric video featuring day-in-the-life shots from each performer in their respective locales — from Dumaguete City and Cebu City in the Philippines to Jakarta in Indonesia — was edited and put together by Jakarta-based filmmaker Reksa Fajar, a long time collaborator of lightcraft. 

Coming Home is the carrier single for an upcoming “reanimated” edition of lightcraft’s latest album Hope + Love, originally released in 2022. The deluxe edition of the album also features remixes of some of the most beloved tracks from the collection, including Like A Fire and This Day & Age. It is currently set for a late May 2024 release date. 

Stream lightcraft’s new track “Coming Home” on your favorite streaming platforms or download the track via Bandcamp. Watch the lyric video on lightcraft’s YouTube channel. 

Links: 

Song Credits 

Written & composed by Imam Wisaya Surataruna, Safarilhaj Febrian, Jake Russel Relacion, and Chelsea Dawn Bureros 

Lyrics by Imam Wisaya Surataruna 

Produced and mixed by Jake Russel Relacion 

Mastered by Miguel Granada Lim 

Vocals by Imam Wisaya Surataruna and Chelsea Dawn Bureros 

Vocals recorded at ALS Recording Studio, Indonesia (Imam) and Northville Studio, Philippines (Chelsea) 

Vocals directed by Ghani Albar and Wendi Arintyo (Imam) 

Guitars by Safarilhaj Febrian 

Synths, keyboards, and drum programming by Imam Wisaya Surataruna and Jake Russel Relacion 

Artwork by Kartika Paramita 

Lyric video credits 

lightcraft 

Directed by Safarilhaj Febrian and Reksa Fajar 

Edited by Reksa Fajar 

Shot on location in Jakarta, Indonesia 

Chelsea Dawn 

Directed and edited by Alex Gascon 

Additional crew: Shan Bureros and Joypax 

Shot on location in Dumaguete City, Philippines 

Jake Relacion (Coloura) 

Directed and edited by Emil Arran Baleva and Robert Michael Lim 

Shot on location in Cebu City, Philippines 

Artist profiles 

About lightcraft 

Jakarta-based Indonesian contemporary pop band lightcraft have made it their main mission to shine a light of hope on the world through every captivating note and melody that they produce, melded together with lyrics full of hopefulness and positivity. 

Formed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia where they met while studying at the same university in 2006, the quartet have a unique arena-ready sound that is at once uplifting and energetic, yet melancholic. lightcraft are renowned for having made a lasting mark on the international stage, where they have performed at some of the most prestigious music festivals and live venues across 15 countries. 

lightcraft have released two EPs and four full-length albums, with their latest being the groundbreaking “Hope + Love”, unleashed in July 2022. They will be releasing a deluxe edition of “Hope + Love” in May 2024, preceded by a brand- new single in April 2024. 

There’s no stopping lightcraft’s groundbreaking journey. 

About Chelsea Dawn 

Chelsea Dawn is a singer-songwriter hailing from Dumaguete City, Philippines. From her roots in Bais City and Dumaguete, Chelsea has cultivated a devoted hometown audience with standout tracks like “Ohio” (2023), a heartfelt ode to her city, and “Bundak”, a Bisaya song featured in her debut album “Cambiando” (2021) that resonates deeply with the community. One of her 2021 releases, “Mulat”, her sole Tagalog track with a timely political message, has garnered over 60,000 streams on Spotify. 

Navigating the challenges of the pandemic, Chelsea showcased her talents virtually on both national and global stages, in events such as Sonik Philippines and Bangkok Music City. In 2023, she ventured back into live performances, captivating audiences in Dumaguete, Cebu City, and Metro Manila earning accolades for her sincere, honest performances and gaining her an even wider fanbase. 

Her latest single, an indie rock gem called “Butterfly”, was released in October 2023 with her first live performance in Metro Manila at 123 Block. 

About Coloura 

Coloura started out in 2016 as a “side project after college hours” by original members Jake Relacion and Robert Lim, starting out as a cover band performing an eclectic mix of music and under a revolving set of band names. They eventually started to write their own songs, releasing their debut single, the funky pop track “Shirley” (2018), under the name Dox. 

Eventually joining the lineup were long time college friends Ziv Zoleta and Emil Baleva. Under their now permanent name Coloura, the quartet released their first song “Losing My Mind” (2019), which echoed nuances from The 1975’s post-punk sound and sonically driven by New Wave and Post Grunge accents. It garnered attention in the local indie scene, leading to some highlights for the band playing live alongside some of the best bands in Cebu. 

The band continued to experiment with their sound as the pandemic struck the whole country, popping influences from funk and house music to shoegaze but ultimately creating their unique, catchy pop rock sound. 

The band released their debut EP “In Between” in 2022 to great reception from their fans and new listeners alike. They followed it up with a second EP called “Love and Influence” almost exactly a year later in 2023.